Paris-based robotics company Wandercraft has raised a $75m Series D and inked a partnership with French car manufacturer Renault as it looks to deploy humanoid robots to factory floors.
Wandercraft, which launched in 2012, specialises in exoskeletons — AI-powered robotic systems that can be worn by people with reduced mobility to give them independent movement.
The company’s partnership with Renault follows Wandercraft’s recent development of a new type of robot dubbed Calvin, a humanoid system designed to carry out dangerous tasks in industrial settings.
“Our goal is to enable tasks that are impossible to do,” says Wandercraft cofounder Jean-Louis Constanza. “In a factory, tasks that are dangerous or strenuous. At home, to get dressed up when you are not autonomous.”
The round, which is majority equity, was led by Renault Group and included participation from public bank Bpifrance, French VC Teampact Ventures and US investor Quadrant Management.
It brings total funding raised by Wandercraft to nearly $150m.
Partnering with Renault
Humanoid robots for industrial use are growing in popularity. Constanza says Wandercraft has a dozen competitors in China and a handful in the US, including Boston Dynamics, which was acquired at a valuation of $1.1bn by Hyundai Motor Group in 2021.
“If Renault picked us it is because we are not behind the US and China,” says Constanza.
Wandercraft’s robot Calvin, which is still being developed, is expected to be deployed in Renault’s factories in the next few months.
“Renault is our first customer for Calvin,” says Constanza. “This enables us to enter manufacturing use cases for humanoid robots, the largest market for robots at the moment. We have a first client with considerable potential.”
Wandercraft’s exoskeletons
Wandercraft is already driving revenue from its first product, an exoskeleton dubbed Atalante X, which is ‘self-supporting’ — meaning it doesn’t rely on wheels, crutches or walkers to balance.
Atalante costs €200k ($228k) and is used in hospitals and rehabilitation centres. Constanza says the company has sold 110 units so far; most customers are in France, but the technology is experiencing high growth in the US.
Constanza declined to confirm Wandercraft’s exact revenues but says the figures have increased tenfold in the past three years.
The company has also developed a lighter and cheaper version of Atalante intended for personal use, dubbed Eve — which was worn by paraplegic tennis player Kevin Piette to walk with the Olympic torch during the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris. Eve is expected to come to market in 2026 at a price of $92k.
The launch market for Eve will be the US, says Constanza, where it will be fully covered by health insurance programme Medicare. Wandercraft opened an HQ in the US in 2022, where it employs 10 people out of a team of 105.
Scaling up
The partnership with Renault will enable Wandercraft to scale up production of both its exoskeletons and humanoid robots.
“We had a challenge around how to produce more than 1,000 exoskeletons a year,” says Constanza. “Part of our partnership will consist of benefitting from Renault’s economies of scale and capacity.
“We need humanoids and exoskeletons to eventually cost the same as a middle-low range car.”
Wandercraft’s production will progressively be transferred to and operated by Renault, he says, as industrial players increasingly deploy the technology. Constanza expects orders to reach thousands of units “in the next few years”.
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